Santana (album)

Santana is the eponymously-titled debut album released 1969 of the San Francisco rock group, led by guitar player Carlos Santana. The album features what many believe to be the classic line-up of the band with Carlos, Gregg Rolie (organ, vocals), David Brown (bass guitar), Michael Shrieve (drums), Michael Carabello (timbales, congas) and Jose 'Chepito' Areas (timbales, congas).

Related Topics:
1969 - San Francisco - Rock - Carlos Santana - Gregg Rolie - Organ - Vocals - David Brown - Bass guitar - Michael Shrieve - Drums - Michael Carabello - Timbales - Conga - Jose 'Chepito' Areas

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It is an outstanding release of largely instrumental music, recorded by what was originally a purely free-form jam band. At the suggestion of manager Bill Graham, the band took to writing more conventional songs for more impact, but managed to retain the essence of improvisation in the music.

Related Topics:
Bill Graham - Improvisation

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The album was destined to be a major release, given a headstart by the band's seminal performance at the Woodstock Festival in August the previous month. The single 'Evil Ways', taken from the album was a Top 10 hit.

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